


Sweets for the sweet

by canadino



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:15:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21557635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadino/pseuds/canadino
Summary: The way to a man's heart...well, you know.
Relationships: Fushimi Omi/Hyoudou Juuza
Comments: 5
Kudos: 69





	Sweets for the sweet

Back when he lived at home, Omi never volunteered to make snacks for his classmates or club members. It was simply too risky; notes and verbal warnings did nothing to stop his brothers or his absent-minded dad from picking at cooling treats. But at Mankai dorm, perhaps because the others could not fall back on familial unconditional forgiveness, thieving of things he cooked that were not explicitly for the troupe was kept to a minimum. Emboldened, and especially after a grueling midterm season when all he wanted to do was mindless rote tasks to help his brain recover, he stepped up to bake for the Photography Club’s late autumn fundraiser. He liked the dorm in the mid-afternoons; the older members were working and the younger members were sitting through their last class periods. Occasionally, Kazunari might be home between classes and evening socials or Tsuzuru decided not to fight others for a coveted spot in the library, but like most days today, Omi found himself peacefully alone to measure and mix and shape to his quiet content. He was so used to cooking in chaotic environments that moments where he could actually hear his movements were blessed. 

He had several sheets of delicate lacy cookies and two pans of rich brownies cooling and was just about to begin steaming uiro when the front door opened rather forcefully. Whoever had returned seemed to regret this moment of aggression and the door was closed almost deliberately gently. This narrowed down the number of people it could have been, although Omi had a feeling of who would round the corner. Guessing correctly, as he brought the bowl of meringues he had made with some leftover egg whites to the table, Juuza came through the foyer looking scruffy and worse for the wear. He didn’t seem surprised to see Omi - granted, he was certain the whole first floor smelled like sugar - but he did look more sheepish, clearly hoping to have made it back to his room without being noticed. “Omi,” he greeted, his eyes snapping with precision to the meringues and to the cookies and brownies. 

“Did something happen? You look like...something happened.” He had been in the wild throes of youth once; it did no good to accuse teenagers of wrongdoing before they had a chance to say it themselves. Banri was one issue, but Juuza was a sensitive boy. 

“Er...I wasn’t doing anything but checking my mock exam results and these guys came up to me...tried to tell me it wasn’t worth going to college or something.” It was entrance exam season; Tsumugi was doing late nights in the living room grading and even Banri was quietly keeping to himself more often. Omi patted some dirt from Juuza’s coat and offered him some tea. When he came back with a steaming mug, Juuza had already started on the bowl of meringues. “Uh, these weren’t...meant for something, were they?” He looked again at the cooling treats; the sheer number of cookies and brownies was unreasonable even for a twenty-plus person dorm. 

“Oh, these are the duds that either cracked or don’t have the shape I was looking for. I was going to offer it to anyone who wanted them.” He smiled as Juuza unapologetically reached for another one. “I’m baking for a fundraiser,” he said, to answer an unasked question. “We’re trying to fund a small weekend workshop with some local kids. Get ‘em started on taking pictures and how to work cameras. Definitely feels different from just a shoot and click on their phones.”

“Omi-san,” Juuza blurted, the sudden formality cutting Omi’s explanation short. “How...how do you do it? I mean, you look older and mature and stuff and...that’s a reason people might pick a fight. They see you as an adult or think you’re looking down on them or something. How do you - not do it?” He frowned, trying to find the right way to say it. “People don’t fight with you. Or at least, it doesn’t seem like they do. How do I get these guys to leave me alone?” He pressed a finger between his brows. “I’m trying to look friendlier, but...I don’t think it’s working.” 

Omi laughed. “How does one look friendly?”

“Like...smiling and stuff. Being approachable and approaching other people. But I think maybe I can’t help it that my face looks like this, so I’m trying to think about how to change...my feeling.”

“Your demeanor?”

Juuza nodded. He took a sip of tea and another meringue drop. “You’re...nice,” he said. “How do I be...nice?”

He couldn’t keep the grin off his face, but Omi did swallow a laugh. Still, he wasn’t mocking Juuza’s earnest attempts; it was endearing, watching someone who reminded him about what he had been before he got worse and then better. He had some older brother figures, in addition to his own actual brothers, but none of them felt like the type he could be completely open with. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I have an answer to that. You can only do so much to control how other people see you. But you’re getting in less fights since you’ve joined, haven’t you? Growth is hard to see sometimes.”

This didn’t seem like a satisfactory answer for Juuza. “Well, you know what they say,” Omi said cheerfully. “You are what you eat.”

“Huh?”

“Here, I’ll give you a cookie and a piece of brownie. Just don’t tell the others.” He cut a generous slice of gooey brownie. Juuza hesitated, the two special sweets in front of him, but at an assuring nod from Omi, he began eating with gusto. “Surely because you’re a sweets connoisseur, you’ll begin exuding sweetness.” 

Juuza frowned again. “I don’t know if that’s what I want...that’s a little more of Muku’s style, isn’t it?”

“Not all sweet buns taste the same,” Omi said wisely. Somehow, this was a metaphor Juuza could understand, as he nodded in agreement. “Do your best, Juuza. We’re all rooting for you.” It was a bit corny, but Izumi could easily deliver such a line and encourage anyone quaking in the wings. In any case, it was his place as one of the older (and comparatively more accessible) members of his troupe to motivate the younger boys. Juuza finished his snacks and left just as the Hana High boys returned, Sakuya gladly polishing off a few more from the meringue bowl. 

With Taichi’s regular chattering and helping Kazunari edit photos for some new fliers, Omi had almost forgotten his conversation with Juuza days later when he was bringing a pot of hot chocolate to Tsumugi’s room. Tasuku didn’t look it, but he was surprisingly patient and open to the study sessions that happened by nature of his roommate being a professional in student exams; as the living room was public space, Tsumugi preferred to hold office hours in his room for dire situations. Then again, Omi thought, helping others did put a smile on Tsumugi’s face and Tasuku seemed to truly bloom when Tsumugi was happy. On his way over, he saw Juuza sitting pensively in the courtyard alone. On his way back, he walked into the yard and took the seat next to Juuza.

“Penny for your thoughts, Juuza? You’ve been staring at the moon like you’re about to write a poem to put Homare-san to shame.”

This made Juuza smile, although it faded just as quickly. “It didn’t work,” he said. “The sweets thing. I just got a stomachache.” He looked back down from the sky. “I heard some girls wondering about directions today so I went up to them to try and help but they didn’t seem to want to listen and told me they were fine. But when I walked away, I heard them ask someone else.” Juuza sighed. “Director says it’s part of my charm and people love the gap moe of looking intimidating but really being a sweetheart. I don’t mind looking intimidating but I don’t want to look intimidating all the time.” 

“I get that.” They sat in silence for a moment. “If it’s any solace...Sakyo-san is pretty intimidating, right?”

“Yeah.”

“But I’ve seen him looking…well, sweet. We know him, so we know he’s not always bite and bark.” When Juuza blinked at him, Omi chuckled, embarrassed. “When he’s talking with the Director...he gets all soft when he thinks no one’s looking. It’s kind of how Masumi looks at the Director all the time. But imagine that on Sakyo-san.”

The image was stark. Juuza looked baffled just thinking about it. “What I’m trying to say is...you’ve heard how people say you look different when you’re in love? I wonder if you channeled how that feels, that goofiness of being carefree knowing the person you like is thinking of you.”

“The person I like…”

“I guess it’s hard to act that kind of stuff out though, huh. You can’t just act all the time. And being in love makes you do some silly things too...you hear the stuff Masumi says sometimes. Huh. Maybe not my best piece of advice today.” Juuza had been staring a hole in the ground for a while, but suddenly he had whipped his head around to face Omi. Fully expecting a dismissive response - after all, it had been a completely random tangent - Omi smiled, as reassuring as he could. Juuza stood and kissed him, so fast he almost barely felt the touch at all. 

“You’re always listening to me,” Juuza mumbled, as Omi gaped at him. “Not that you don’t do that for everyone else in the troupe but...I like that. Er, thank you. Especially.” It was dark, but the light in the courtyard cast shadows on Juuza’s red face. Even when he was nervous, practicing and delivering lines in rehearsal, Juuza kept his usual composure. Now, it was slowly unraveling, the embarrassment of realizing that he’d sprung a kiss and a convoluted confession out of the blue. “Um. I’m going to bed now.” He made a beeline to his room, tripping over the gardening equipment Tsumugi had left near the path. Catching himself, Juuza barreled through the door, Banri’s voice of alarm at his sudden appearance coming from within before the door slammed shut. 

Izumi was boiling water for tea when Omi came back to the kitchen to put away the tray. “Ooh, what happened?” she said, bringing a hand to her mouth scandalously. “You look flustered and dazed. Did Tasuku propose to Tsumugi during study hall? No...did he propose to you?” She laughed at her own joke, pouring from the kettle into her striped mug. Omi mustered a smile. Somehow he’d somehow forgotten how he acted before he was kissed. 

“Director,” he said gravely. “A person who gives advice should be following it.” At her incredulous reaction (“Wait...you didn’t say it didn’t happen...Omi! We don’t have the budget for a wedding!”), he fled the kitchen.

**Author's Note:**

> When am I going to actually write the ship that I like most...anyway, I love the idea of former delinquent/reformed delinquent...and Omi is for sure domesticating Juuza by making sweets. You can't change my mind.


End file.
